Kagyu Samye Dzong London
News

May 2006

Contents

1. Visit of Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche - 7th-11th June
2. Manor Baths and the Karma Kagyu Cowboys, by Tom Hawkesworth
3. Meditation - a beginner's attitude
4. Sunshine, Refuge and Tsokfeasts - the visit of Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche by Simon Elcock
5. Forthcoming events

1 - Visit of Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche - 7th-11th June

We are delighted to welcome Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche to the Centre this summer. Akong Rinpoche is the Co-Founder of Samye Ling and the President of Rokpa Trust. He was recognised by the Karmapa at the age of three as the reincarnation of the first Akong, the Abbot of Dolma Lhakang monastery. Among his many teachers were His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and his root teacher Sechen Kongtrul Rinpoche.

Akong Rinpoche has received numerous Dharma transmissions, commentaries and empowerments from all the main Kagyu Lineage holders, and his vast and unceasing activity to benefit beings has helped make the Dharma accessible to his students all around the world. He will be assisted over his visit by Ken Holmes.

The programme for Rinpoche's visit is as follows:

Weds 7th, 7pm ‘The bridge between sutra and tantra’
Thurs 8th, 7pm ‘The Refuges as Results’
Fri 9th, 7pm Q&A session with Akong Rinpoche
Sat 10th, 10am ‘Buddha Nature’
Sat 10th, 2pm Guru Rinpoche empowerment
Sun 11th, 10am ‘Enlightened qualities, enlightened activity’
Sun 11th, 2pm Medicine Buddha empowerment

To see the detailed itinery for the weekend just click here. To book your place, contact the office on 020-7928 5447.

2 - Manor Baths and the Karma Kagyu Cowboys, by Tom Hawkesworth

Building work at Manor Baths has now been ongoing for nearly two months. A small gang of willing but inexperienced workers otherwise known as the KKCB (Karma Kagyu Cowboy Builders) has been expertly and patiently guided by site manager Colin who fortunately has a lot of building experience and has been an inspiration to us all with his energy, dedication and good humour.

Our first job was clearing out vast piles of council rubbish including a forest of rusting filing cabinets in what will be the shrine room. This at first seemed a daunting task but with the help of a good team of Samye Dzong volunteers about 6 tonnes of waste was cleared out in a single day. Much fun was had and people commented “ I haven’t had this much fun in years” as they dragged another load of scrap metal around to the council tip.

Work was then started putting up partitioning on the first floor to make rooms for the residents and looking into fixing the leaky roof. We had help from Vin from Samye Ling who is an expert at restoring sash windows.

It has been very fortunate that help from more skilled tradesmen has arrived just when needed. Clive and Douglas have been giving help and direction in painting and decorating the windows. Darren an experienced plumber has been fixing the drains and working on the internal plumbing and of course Rowan has been doing the electrics.

As you can see from the photo, we now have scaffolding up and have been concentrating on working on the exterior of the building.

And if you'd like to see more photo's of Manor Baths and the work we've been doing there, you can watch an online slideshow of 20 photos by clicking here.

We would like to extend a big thank you to all those who have helped with the building work…...and an invitation to anyone interested in helping out – there is still much work to be done!

Tom is a resident at Kagyu Samye Dzong London, and now works full time for the KKCB at Manor Baths.

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3 - Meditation - a beginner's attitude

In his book, Living Dharma, Lama Yeshe writes:

"For beginners, it is always very good to approach meditation with a very open mind. We should not start meditating with the wish to have a peaceful mind, very good experiences, and so on. If we expect certain experiences, we will just be watching for them to come and when things do not happen as we want, we will feel very disatisfied.

To have a beginner's attitude we shold be open minded without expectations. We should sit in a quiet place with no disractions and give ourselves tiem to meditate, allowing our body and mind to relax and settle. Our body sits here and our mind stays with our body. In this way, whenever we see our mind jumping out of the room, we just kindly bring it back. It doesn't matter how many times we have to repeat this. If today we have to bring it back every second for half an hour of meditation, it is still worthwhile.

Things can go wrong when our worldly impatience starts to manifest. But getting upset destroys everything. We should be very patient and patience means never getting upset, never getting angry. Let's be happy and feel good that we can just be aware of our mind wandering away and remember to bring it back. If we think that our mind is too bad and fi we get angry or feel miserable, we cannot make any progress."

Lama Zangmo will be leading a meditation weekend on the 27th-28th May which is ideal for beginners who want to get it right from the start and those wishing to refresh their understanding. Book your place now by phoning the office on 020-928 5447.

4 - Sunshine, Refuge and Tsokfeasts - the visit of Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche

Simon Elcock, a resident at Kagyu Samye Dzong writes:

"Once again we were all very lucky to welcome Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche back to Kagyu Samye Dzong London. The weekend was a mixture of meditation instructions, advice and personal interviews with Lama Yeshe, and pujas led by the Sangha, with several Tsokfeasts enjoyed by all.

Lama Yeshe was accompanied by Ani Lhamo, Ani Rinchen Kandro and Ani Pema and it was nice to have the presence of so many nuns at the Centre. They helped make the weekend the success it was, along with our own Sangha, Ani Paltso and of course Lama Zangmo.

Although Lama Yeshe very humorously revealed to us that he would rather be living in retreat than as a busy Buddhist teacher, he happily and enthusiastically gave his time, wisdom and warmth to the many people who came to his weekend course.

For many people the highlight of the weekend was the Refuge ceremony where twenty or so people, myself one of them, formally committed themselves to the Buddha's teachings and officially entered the Buddhist Path. Five of those people are also regular builders on Manor Baths, which seemed very auspicious! In a simple ceremony Lama Yeshe blessed us and welcomed us onto the Buddhist path with a new name as a symbol of new beginnings.

Lama Yeshe also spoke of the need to secure the future of Samye Dzong London. He encouraged us to help with the work at Manor Baths whenever possible, and urged all of us to help in any way we can towards establishing a permanent Centre in the heart of London.

So thank you to Lama Yeshe, and we look forward to seing him again very soon."

Simon is a resident at Samye Dzong London and now works full time at Manor Baths.

5 - Forthcoming events

MAY

Shinay Retreat Day
with Lama Zangmo
Sunday 21st May, 10.00 - 4.00 pm
£25
A day devoted to the practice of shinay meditation of calm abiding. The day will start with brief instructions and the emphasis will be on the meditation itself. Not suitable for total beginners. Bring lunch to share.

Tai Chi
with John Henry
Sunday 21st May, 10:30am – 4pm
£25
A monthly class of Tai Chi with John Henry who has been studying martial arts for the last 13 years within the lineage of Chen Xiao Wang. The classes include a variety of chi kung exercises excellent for health, calmness, balance and relaxation. They are suitable for anyone and beginners are always welcome at any class.

Meditation Weekend
with Lama Zangmo
Saturday 27th- Sunday 28th May, 10.00 - 4.00 pm
£45
A weekend of meditation instructions relevant to Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike, covering posture and the various methods used in tranquility meditation such as observing the breath, and external object and developing awareness. Ideal for beginners who want to get it right from the start and those wishing to refresh their understanding.

JUNE

Visit of Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche - Empowerments and Teachings,
Assisted by Ken Holmes
Wednesday 7th - Sunday 11th June
Per evening: £10 Sat/Sun: £30 per day Full course:£65
For full programme details, including times, just click here.

This newsletter goes out to those who have expressed an interest in Kagyu Samye Dzong London. It covers news of the efforts and progress towards finding and funding a new site for the centre, and other events taking place in the coming weeks

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